This invention relates to dental flossing devices, more particularly to dental flossing devices and materials which are uniquely useful to remove food debris and plaque from the transmucosal regions of implant abutments made of relatively soft materials such as titanium and alloys of titanium or gold that are now in use to support dental restorations on dental implant fixtures, as well as natural tooth roots supporting dental restorations.
Dental flossing devices are used in the daily maintenance of healthy teeth and gums. As currently used to maintain natural dentition, as well as dental restorations supported on natural roots, dental flossing devices are string-like in shape, not unlike heavy threads used to sew fabrics together, which in use are pressed between adjacent teeth until making contact with the gums and then drawn back and forth between and against the confronting tooth roots to physically remove daily accumulations of plaque and food debris from the surfaces of the teeth and tooth roots near and immediately under the gums. Threading devices, faintly resembling tailors' needles, are available to thread these string-like flossing devices between teeth under fixed dental bridges. For a number of reasons the existing dental flossing devices are not satisfactory for use to maintain the health of dental restorations supported on dental implant fixtures. Modern dentistry includes the new technique of implantoloqy. In this new technique a dental implant fixture is placed in the jawbone of a patient in a location where the patient is edentulous and an artificial tooth or crown is supported on that fixture. For the patient who is completely edentulous, or is missing a row of teeth, several implant fixtures may be placed, and a bridge or bridges of joined-together teeth may be supported on them. To achieve this support a component, commonly called an abutment, which extends from the implant fixture in bone through the patient's gum, is used to unite the tooth or crown to the fixture. Bridges supported on implant fixtures may include pontics fixed between teeth that are supported on such abutments. The portion of the abutment which exits the gum is subject to the same rigors as a natural tooth at the gum line, that is, it, too, is exposed to food debris and plaque accumulation, and a program of dental hygiene is imperative to maintain the health of the gums and the jawbone where the implant fixture is installed. In fact, such a hygiene program may be more necessary to the maintenance of an implant-supported dental restoration than for the maintenance of natural teeth, for the reason that if plaque and calculus are permitted to collect on the abutment and under the surface of the surrounding gingivae bacteria will eventually attack the bone tissue surrounding or in contact with the implant fixture, and the union between the fixture and the bone will eventually fail.
Titanium and its alloy TiV6A14 are at the present time the materials of choice for use to make dental implant fixtures and the components used with them, including abutments. Titanium is relatively soft compared with natural tooth enamel, so that a titanium abutment is easily scratched. Scratches on the exposed surface of a titanium abutment provide sites for bacteria to take residence and proliferate, a reason being that a roughened surface will collect even more plaque and calculus than a smooth surface. It is accordingly good dental practice to provide smooth surfaces on abutments and other parts of implant supporting structures which are in contact with the gums and periosteal tissues. A need exists to provide dental flossing devices and materials that can be safely used in a program of dental hygiene for the maintenance of an implant-supported dental restoration.